Programme Profiles:
Drum Adventure’s aim is to use outdoor education to enhance the training and personal development work being undertaken by its member or partner groups. It does not see the activity input as being a separate entity, but through dialogue with client organisation workers, applies the activity input as a reinforcement tool.
The following profiles of past and present programmes highlights the cross lateral approach taken over a wide variety of social and health agendas.
Star Partnership:
The Star Partnership is unique to Drumchapel. It is the coming together of a variety of agencies working together to provide ongoing support to people suffering from substance abuse problems. Its aim is to provide a comprehensive support service within the community, moving from chaotic behaviour to personal and family stability and then on to meaningful employment.
The partner agencies include Momentum
Drum Adventure’s role is to provide activities that will encourage people through the Platform Stage, which helps clients regain organisation in their lives as well as self-confidence.
The Star Partnership is funded for a five-year period mainly through the European Social Fund programme.
Long Term Intervention:
The peripatetic nature of our course supply means that intervention can be on an ongoing and thus long-term basis. Considerable success has been achieved in engaging young people in regular programmes of activity over several years.
In one case, a Group Work team used fortnightly evening activities to enhance the work being done to support a number of boys on Social Care Orders. Over the four years these young men developed a personal ownership of the activities and achieved qualifications in several different outdoor sports.
They also developed new confidence and coping strategies for the problems they experienced in the home. Significantly, they all successfully took part in the 2003 Nigmegen Health Walk in
Drum Adventure is currently planning to fund more of this type of long-term work and would like to hear from any other interested parties.
Developing a Healthy Living Culture:
Drum Adventure is currently following a policy of supporting the change of attitude towards exercise and diet. It is targeting a variety of age groups for Primary aged children to adults in mid to later life.
It has developed programmes to encourage all generations in the community and specifically tries to engage with the ‘hard to reach’.
The following are typical initiatives designed to compliment each other:-
Adventure Service Challenge – similar structure to DOE for juniors.
- Activity for Health programme - includes orienteering in schools and after school activity club development.
- Secondary Schools Sports Programme - includes support for running clubs and special events for seniors such as Karrimor Mountain Marathon and supported school treks to the Basque Pyrenees.
- Youth outreach programmes encouraging the engagement of hard to reach young people who may be involved in binge drinking or substance abuse.
- Community Triathlon – a low key event, encouraging all ages to take part individually or as part of a team.
- Men’s and woman’s health programmes encouraging the reduction of smoking, improvement of diet and increased exercise.
- Programmes to support adult mental health recovery.
- Activity courses for 50+, developing new, gentle exercise regimes for older people.
It achieves this cross-generational approach by developing partnership programmes with a variety of agencies such as healthy living Centres, Local health boards, community groups and schools. Funding is either secured through public sector sources, the commercial sector or specific trusts.
If you are interested in developing such an approach in your community area, please feel free to discuss your project idea with